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Emergency and Critical Care fees

What to expect at the Emergency Room?

The costs associated with providing the highest standard of Emergency and Critical Care can significantly exceed the costs of typical day veterinary practices. In order to meet the needs of our most critical patients, we must have on-site blood analysis equipment, specialized diagnostic equipment like ultrasound and digital radiography, a diverse pharmacy of medications and most importantly, a very highly trained staff. Unlike day practices that draw blood and send it to an outside lab in order to receive the results the next day, our patients need immediate diagnosis. We typically must identify problems very quickly and accurately in order to provide the needed emergency treatment. Additionally, we provide a living wage, health care benefits and intensive continuing education for our staff of doctors, technicians and receptionists. We are here every night, and 24 hours on weekends and holidays whether you need us or not, “just in case”. Veterinary emergency and critical care costs a great deal more than day veterinary practice, just as visiting a human emergency room is more expensive than seeing your family doctor for a check up.

It is very important for us to not pre-judge our client’s financial situations in order to avoid clouding of our medical decisions. For each of our patients, we provide recommendations based on the best standard of care available. We also provide each client with a detailed written estimate outlining the costs of our services after those recommendations are made. This allows our clients to make an educated decision about treating their pet. It would not be appropriate for us to do any less. It is our clients’ private decision as to whether or not treatment as recommended is within their financial means or if it is their financial priority. If you have cost constraints, please let your nurse know prior to having treatments performed. Payment is expected at the time services are rendered or a deposit for hospitalization will be collected prior to admission. We accept all major credit cards, checks and we do offer a payment plan through an outside credit company, Care Credit.

Finally, we would like to thank you for your patience. Pets are seen according to the severity of their illness, not the order of their arrival. Your patience is appreciated as we care for the most critically ill and injured first.